Suffolk lucky again in lotto
Published 10:06 pm Monday, January 11, 2016
Matthew Brewer held Virginia’s sole $1 million winning ticket following Saturday’s much-hyped Powerball drawing. He matched the first five numbers in the six-number drawing to win the biggest prize offered in the game besides the jackpot. (Submitted Photo)
It seems the lesson for Suffolk residents and visitors hoping to strike it rich is to buy your tickets somewhere on Holland Road.
Three stores along Holland Road have sold three big winners lately, including a $1 million winner in Saturday’s Powerball drawing.
That lucky guy, Matthew Brewer, isn’t a regular Powerball player. Instead, the Suffolk man said he gets in the game, “when it gets too big not to play.”
That was certainly the case on Saturday, when the Powerball jackpot reached $949 million. He stopped by Convenience on the Go, at 1441 Holland Road, and bought three Powerball tickets. He used Easy Pick, allowing the computer to randomly select the numbers on his tickets.
The next morning, like millions of Americans, he decided to check those winning Powerball numbers. That’s when he discovered his ticket matched the first five numbers to win $1 million.
In fact, his ticket was just one number away from hitting the record jackpot.
“It would have been nice to win the whole thing, but I’m not going to argue with this,” he said.
The winning numbers for that drawing were 16-19-32-34-57, and the Powerball number was 13. Brewer’s ticket was one of 28 nationwide to win the $1 million prize, and the only one in Virginia.
Since no one matched all six numbers in Saturday’s drawing, the estimated jackpot for this Wednesday’s drawing is a jaw-dropping $1.4 billion.
Brewer, who is an auto mechanic, said he intends to invest his winnings. Convenience on the Go received a $10,000 bonus from the Virginia Lottery for selling the winning ticket.
In addition to Brewer’s ticket, one of 15 Virginia tickets that won $50,000 was sold at the 7-Eleven at 1928 Holland Road.
The $1 million prize is won by matching the first five numbers but not the Powerball. Matching four of the first five numbers, plus the Powerball, wins the $50,000 prize.
The odds of winning the $1 million prize are 1 in 11.69 million — slightly better than the odds of winning the jackpot, which are 1 in 292.2 million.
Amazingly, the wins come just about a week following Ricky Conner’s win of $1 million in the lottery’s New Year’s Millionaire Raffle. He bought his ticket at the store he owns, Oliver’s Grocery, also on Holland Road.
Nearly 500,000 tickets in Virginia won a prize in Saturday’s Powerball drawing.
